Africa looks to Russia for AI partnerships

Digital forum delegates from Mozambique, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have stressed the need for locally relevant and cooperative solutions

Global Digital Forum guests from several African nations emphasized the need for more inclusive, cooperative approaches to transforming their economies, and voiced an interest in deepening ties with Russia in the tech sphere. The event kicked off on Thursday in Nizhny Novgorod. 

Eugénio Alberto Macumbe, head of the Digital Governance Division at Mozambique’s ICT Regulatory Authority, told RT that his country is currently pursuing both a digital transformation and AI strategies. 

Macumbe highlighted Russia’s advanced progress in AI and underscored the value of learning from its expertise: “I think this forum is a great opportunity for developing countries like Mozambique to learn from global experts, including Russian experts on the digital transformation process,” he said, adding that Russia is “very advanced in this process.”

Speaking to RT, Kenyan researcher Risper Onyango pointed out that the deployment of artificial intelligence globally often fails to reflect African voices or local realities. “We have suffered the heavy hand of the deployment of AI,” she said. 

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“They [these technologies] are not localized, they don’t share our story.” She emphasized that African countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo bear the environmental costs of tech production, while receiving minimal benefit in return.

Onyango welcomed the inclusive nature of the current discussions, noting that platforms like the Global Digital Forum allow for the co-creation of solutions rather than their top-down imposition. “It’s going to be something that is co-created for all the participants and then useful for all the societies represented,” she said.

For Zimbabwean official Joseph Kisi, the event served as a reminder of Russia’s historic support for African nations and his country’s liberation struggle.

Kisi said that Zimbabwe remains eager to pursuing technology which will allow it to develop. “We are searching for new ideas, the new technologies, to develop our nation,” he stated.

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The Global Digital Forum is taking place in Nizhny Novgorod on June 5-6. According to the organizers, about 2,000 people from 116 countries have taken part in it, including representatives from Niger, the Republic of the Congo, the Comoros, Malawi, Cameroon, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, Senegal, and elsewhere.